Pedestrian struck in downtown Sidney after receiving safety reflector

Moments after receiving a safety reflector, designed to help increase pedestrian visibility, a man was struck by car in a downtown Sidney crosswalk Tuesday afternoon.

Sidney North Saanich RCMP officers – who were standing on the corner handing out the reflectors – immediately went to the man’s aid, administering first aid and calling the ambulance and other first responders.

Corporal Chris Manseau, the local RCMP detachment’s public affairs officer, said he’d just finished speaking to the man and giving him a reflector, when he entered the crosswalk at Beacon Avenue and Third Street. A car, which had been waiting at the intersection to cross Beacon Avenue, pulled into the crosswalk, striking the man.

Manseau said it was unusual, that he happened to be the last person the man spoke with before being hit by a car.

The pedestrian was treated by paramedics at the scene. Manseau said he had a cut above one eye and the collision broke the man’s glasses.

The police and an ICBC representative were in downtown Sidney today, helping promote better pedestrian safety – reminding people to use crosswalks, make eye contact with drivers and to wear bright clothing and reflectors in order to be better seen during the darker, rainier days of fall and winter on Vancouver Island.